Help!: What a terrible site... The flaws here are ubiquitous

Wow! I guess it's a good thing that I'm a runner. I've had very little issues with this site and actually find it to be a pretty good training tool. Sorry that you had such a bad experience.

Your's truly,

Pleased User

 

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Hi This is my first post but I've been using the site for a few months and I'm happy. It's been a good motivational tool for me gradually coming back to running after major surgery. I'm sorry you haven't found it as useful. cheers.

Hi EJL-

Jeff from the MapMyFitness team here.  I'm a bit surprised to hear these comments, but we are here listening and working to help you and improve the site.

For specific constructive feedback on the new mapping tool, I encourage you to post your feedback in the beta testing group.  Note that we have specifically marked the new mapping tools as a beta so that we can gather feedback and improve things before moving all of the maps to the new sytem.

It sounds like you have a good amount of experience cycling and using online tools, and if you haven't been too put off, I think you could help us in a positive way by contributing your feedback as I suggested above.  We like to pride ourselves to listening to our users and using their input to improve the site.

-jeff

 

Jeff,

OK.

First, I'm glad I checked this out as quint41 described a couple of problems I had. timing out and several times I made a map and saved it to find later that only  part of it showed up. Then, after spending time editing it to no avail, there is not a direct place to make a bug report that I could see except by going into a discussion. I don't really want to discuss it. I just want it to work.

I noticed that all your happy customers are runners. Perhaps it is because of distances entered. 30 miles is not that long and I can't get it to log.  If you can correct it fast I'll get back to my ride groups whom I've already informed to not use your site.  On the flip side, if I like something I'll push it hard.  

So, still there is no email to Jeff directly or an email from staff to me directly. I'm a customer. Keep me happy. 

 I suppose I can go back to the beta but here are a few other problems.  On the Beta map it kept jumping around and using the arrow sometimes would not let me line it up on the map from the point left off. It was fidgety. I did not have this problem on the normal site.   Elevation gain should be cumulative. That is, as the odometer reads, the climbing in elevation should be there too. Now, in the past I had good success with routeslip but then its editing feature crashed and that site was non responsive and never corrected itself in months and months.  It did have an elevation program.  I like the profile aspect.

Then, on the beta, you can't highlight the turns on review with comments and so on.  It is posted on the side but the references might not make any sense in a simple list that isn't highlighted on the map quickly. Then when I went to edit one point it got that shoved to the end of the list.  ROuteslip had a few prewritten comments that you could click on such as regroup, stop, right turn etc.  On the Beta I liked the water symbol but the toilet symbol, available on the normal site, was not present.

I lead many rides here near Detroit and I typically send emails out that hit over 1000 people with the three groups I'm involved in.  The map I tried to create, Birmingham, MI, Motive Force-Loose Spokes on Tuesdays is an example and considered to be one of the best if not the best training ride around. We might get 130 riders on a good summers evening and well over 400 riders get my emails from this group.  This is just one of the rides we do.  

So, contact me when you have the bugs worked out and I'll push this site again. In the meantime you may wish to contact Performance at that time too as I informed them of your deficiencies since they offer sound products and right now you are not one of them. As you can see I'm not happy about the HOURS I've wasted.  I'll make amends when you respond directly too me. I'm actually surprised you didn't already. That's what I would have done. I'm not sure why posting in the BETA testing arena would make any difference. You are welcome to cut and paste it or whatever gets the job done. Informing you of the problems seems to me to be my job to that point.  Get one of your staff who is very descriptive to enter a map that is detailed for every turn and bump in the road and see if they have success. 

Thanks quint.  I'll sleep better knowing it wasn't just me. And Jeff, if you think I'm not working it competently then let me know but if so it needs to be more user friendly.   

EJ Levy

EJLevy01@comcast.net
EJLMotiveForce@bikerider.com

248 388 3854 if you like. 

 

 

EJL, you're obviously the big cheese down at the cycle club. That's great.

The one problem that I have with www.mapmyrun.com is on the map at the southern part of Fort Collins, CO. The roads do not line up. I believe it's just north of Horsetooth, between College and Lemay.

This is the only time I've mentioned it, since this site is great for me and I really have no other complaints. 

This site has been absolutely amazing for me. I am really surprised that you don't like it at all and have found so many complaints against it. Though i myself have never made anything more then a 10km run, so i wouldn't know anything about only the first 10km showing up. This site has helped me out alot and i am very pleased with it. - A very satisfied user

Learn how to use a computer EJL

luckily i haven't had all those issues with the site.  if i had all those problems i'd definitely ask for my money back...

I've had a few problems here and there, and would like to see some improvements over time, but overall I think the site is GREAT!  I have a couple hundred routes mapped out, and track all my training here.

Bruce in Phoenix 

Well, obviously you do not know how to use the internet or turn on a computer...I don't see how you can label mapmyride as being non "user-friendly" -  Considering this is the first site out there for keeping track of routes, and sharing them with people all around the world, I think the programmers are doing a FINE job. 

I add my voice to the adoration of the site. I love this place and it's so satisfying to see how far I've gone, how many calories I've burned and all the other great stuff. While it isn't perfect, considering that first of all they are welcome to suggestions as seen by the discussion board dedicated to suggestions and second of all it's free, I am inclined to be patient while bugs are fixed. Thanks for all you guys do to help us burgeoning and experianced runners alike!

I've haven't experienced any of the problems that you are talking about EJL. I have mapped out a half Iron Man on here. At times it can take a minute to load the routes but I get to do it all for free so I am not complaining. You should give the site time to address your concerns prior to  bad talking them to a 1000 people and sponsors.

 If anything it seems that you are a negative nilly. This site is awesome!

My wife turned me on to mapmyrun.com and I was using another site to track mileage. This was superior by far in every way. I too have mapped runs/rides that are of double digit mileage and have not had any problems. My computer at home is really slow but the one I have here at work is much faster and so I tend to map them here. I also have DSL lite and at work a 10Mb connection with really helps with the page loading.

I love this site, I really enjoy using it and it has taken all the headaches out of my training log. It is easy to lookup where I've come from. Thank you!

PS If I were to make a suggestion, will ya'll buy thedailyplate.com so I can accurately track my calories and my training in one place?

IND - the way to change that problem is to map using the satellite view...then you won't have to worry about being on the street or not, you will be exactly where you want, not necessarily where the street is "supposed" to be.

 For other people...I can understand frustration and I think EJL was just trying to vent and try to find a solution...maybe he jumped the gun a bit and didn't know where to post his issue or how the support goes.  However, his issues can be real for him.

 One thing I suggest is to use the Garmin Edge during one of your rides, then you can upload your route directly and then publish the route...just a thought, may be a bit easier than what you are trying to do.

What a GREAT site. I'm the president of a cycling club and I'm having a link toour website about this website. I'll also be informing the other thousands of riders in Northern CA about the website, including my clients. They will be able to track their workouts.

Great work, I can't beleive is FREE. I feel like if I'm cheating for using it for FREE.

Happy Trails..

I happened upon this site and I couldn't be happier. I have to admit that I'm not proficient yet, but each route that I map teaches me a new trick. Keep up the good work.

 DT in Providence

EJL, I'm sorry to hear of your poor experience with this site. From the above comments its clear that you are not alone with some of the problems you have encountered but it is also clear that you are very much in the minority.

Personally I have yet to suffer any issues and apart from a few teething problems when I first drew up a route I find it quite a simple site to use.

As for distance, I don't believe that is the cause of your issues in itself. Take a look at the walks submitted by wwkeppsy at http://www.mapmywalk.com/walk/australia/adelaide/394313516826 (3046 km) and http://www.mapmywalk.com/walk/australia/adelaide/579665437 (2161 km). I think these prove that the system handles more than 10miles quite adequately.

I hope you have better experiences should you ever decide to try again.

I've been using this site for about a year now and have used pretty much all functionality. I do multisports and have used this tool for swim, bike, run and gym workouts (by the way, there are mapmy*** sites for ride and tris as well, basically the same engine). Distances from a few km to 90km+. I have mapped manually and by uploading from my Garmin 305.

Yes, some frustrating moments, but on balance I think it is a great site, and I continue to use it routinely. As I get to know about the way it works I work around the things that don't do it for me. The latest version is an improvement of previous incarnations, so there is certainly a process of development and improvement. This site is certainly better than Garmin's Motionbased which costs a heap for what should really be included with the device you buy from them, 'cos they aint cheap, and isn't much different anyway.

As a tip - I know that some of the issues I have experienced have been caused by my PC set up, and clearing out the crap that so many sites dump on you when you visit them is always a good policy + my kids can be quite creative with configuring my PC and that doesn't help me much. Often after doing that my problems vanished.

Before you offer yourself as the oracle about map and activity based web resources, maybe you should sit back and think a bit harder about the other feedback in this and other threads on this site and other comparison sites. Or maybe you think your personal experience is good enough evidence to deprive your thousands of contacts of this excellent tool. Your decision after that would indicate how balanced an individual you are and you should seriously question whether even you would follow your own advice.

I agree that editing runs is a bit of a gambling game...sometimes it works, sometimes you're SOL. But otherwise, logging a run is quick and easy. I used to go to MyActive.com, but it doesn't have the map feature, or all the auto-calculations. I'm happy with this site :)

Hi,

Some of the complaints in this forum also ring true with me--although I see wonderful promise in this site and still go back to it again and again.

Many times I have started mapping my ride, and then something goes crazy. And very often it's the same thing each time, which indicates in-depth testing is in order.

For example, I take my route to a divided four-lane highway, and then attempt to turn the route onto that highway. Instead of going in the intended direction, the route first tracks in the opposite direction, wraps around the road's 4-lane divider (making a U-turn), and then finally goes in my intended direction. It seems the the programming code "believes" the 4-lane highway is actually two separate roads.

 I wish you wonderful success with this site, but it is not quite ready for prime time in my opinion. When it's "right," I project countless more athlete's will visit your site.

Sincerely,

David

WHOA EJL,

This (free) site is obviously getting you a bit wound-up dude.

 May I suggest you do something to de-stress a bit.

How about going for a run?..... 

 

I have been having problems with the run and ride side of the site lately. I'll be part way through creating a route & the mapping line will refuse to take another point. I have tried to undo, which will indeed undo the last point, but I will still be unable to then continue my route to the (end) destination.

 

DavidY - 

You state "For example, I take my route to a divided four-lane highway, and then attempt to turn the route onto that highway. Instead of going in the intended direction, the route first tracks in the opposite direction, wraps around the road's 4-lane divider (making a U-turn), and then finally goes in my intended direction. It seems the the programming code "believes" the 4-lane highway is actually two separate roads."

As someone who has worked in Geographic Information Systems and worked with the creation and use of street data at a local level, let me correct you. It is not that the programming code "believes" the 4-lane highway is 2 separate roads. It's that the DATA is the 4-lane highway is two separate roads. This conforms to the fact that in real life those are two one-way roads that run parallel to each other. If you dis-believe that, look at what happens when some drunk goes the wrong way on one of them. This feature of the data is also part of what is responsible for the ability to do turn by turn directions.

I don't know exactly where you have mapped your route, where you are entering the road or what scale you are working at, but lots of variables could contribute to what you see. For example, if there is a driveway cut or turn lane to go into/out of  a private lot there is probably not a connection in the data for that. If you have the follow roads feature on and do a left turn across the road, there may not be a road feature to follow except by going right to the next cross street and then do a u-turn. This site is using Google Maps, They get their map data from another source - Navteq who in turn compiles that world-wide road data from hundreds or even thousands of other sources at lots of different scales. My agency supplies that data for Indianapolis and we have one person working full time for our measly 4200 miles of roads.

Without ever having seen the code base, I can be sure that there is some serious programming at work behind the scenes on this site. Both in the site itself and in the Google Maps services used to provide the mapping.

To Jeff and the rest of the MMF team - Great Job!!

To EJL & Peter-DG - go burn off some of that hostility on your bike or on a run. Life is too short.

Dang and I love it.  Its free and works great for me!  My email list isn't as long but I have told a few folks that run to give it a try.